


The Day Bad Things Never Ceased

by fillmoredawn



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, F/M, Insanity, Murder, Psychological Torture, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-04-01 03:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4004488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fillmoredawn/pseuds/fillmoredawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Merlin shows up for work sick, Arthur sends him back to bed, worried only about why Merlin would lie about Gaius's whereabouts. And everything goes down hill from there. Mid season 4. Lots of Merlin whump. Featuring sick!Merlin and evil!Gaius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Merlin coughed painfully, causing Arthur to wince.

"Merlin." he said, trying to disguise the worry in his voice. "What on earth are you doing?"

Merlin froze, the laundry he was folding hanging loosely over one arm. "Um..." he tried to decide on the best response. "Laundry folding- ing?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Arthur asked loudly. For a moment, Merlin flinched, thinking perhaps Arthur had somehow found out about his magic and was about to go into a rant on how Merlin had betrayed him by lying to him. But no, he decided. If Arthur found out he had magic, Merlin would already be in the dungeons, or dead.

Which did nothing to help the feeling of unease in his stomach.

"You look bloody awful." Arthur continued, and Merlin felt his shoulders relax. "How could Gaius let you go to work like this?" Merlin looked down and swallowed, ignoring how much it pained his raw throat. "What?" Arthur saw the guilty look in his manservant's eye.

"Gaius is- in the lower town." Merlin said after a moment. "There's been an out break of- something." It sounded false in his own ears. "Something dangerous." he added, hoping it would give his story some more bone.

Arthur picked up on the obvious false hood, but decided to contemplate why Merlin would lie about Gaius's location later, and worry about his sick idiot now.

"Go to bed." Arthur instructed Merlin, who set down the laundry without complaint. He must have been worse off then Arthur had originally thought- Merlin is usually rebellious to the point of stupidity, always doing the opposite of whatever his king instructed. "Are you alright getting there?"

"I've been in Camelot long enough to know my way to my room." Merlin turned to leave. That wasn't what Arthur had meant, of course Merlin knew his way to Gaius's chambers. Arthur had been worried that Merlin might not be able to make it there on his own. The boy did look awful, breathing heavily at the slightest movement, off coloured skin, a tad of sweat on his brow. Merlin's clothing looked rumpled, as if he had worn the same shirt and trousers to bed and hadn't bothered to smoothen them out before bringing Arthur his breakfast. And he was missing that dumb dishrag he wore around his neck, every day without prevail. Arthur had seen Merlin without his neckerchief maybe twice, and neither of them had been very good situations. The fact that the idiot wasn't wearing it today was an omen of bad luck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin is perhaps sicker than previously thought. Even Agravaine is worried about him. Gwaine is late for morning practice, and Arthur scares a squire half to death.

After Merlin left Arthur's chambers, he stood out side in the hallway for a moment, deciding which way to go. His loud breathing and fuzzy mind prevented him from hearing the clicking footsteps until someone tapped him on the shoulder. Merlin whirled around quickly and tripped over his own feet. He would have fallen if a firm hand had not grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled him up.

"Thanks- Oh." Merlin stopped abruptly when he saw it was Lord Aggravaine who had stopped him from falling. "Thank you, my lord."

"Anytime Merlin, anytime." Aggravaine smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. Merlin wondered why no one else ever realised. He clapped Merlin on the back and laughed, as if sharing some private joke, so Merlin laughed too, hoping it sounded genuine. "Where are you going? Aren't you meant to be serving Arthur?"

"Arthur said to-" Merlin paused and tried to think of something before the moment grew suspiciously long. "Take the day off." There. Perfect. It wasn't a lie anyway, so if Aggravaine said something about him having the day off, Arthur wouldn't think twice about it.

"Excellent." Another false smile. "What were you planning on doing?"

Of course, he wanted to know. If Merlin was far enough away, Aggravaine might be able to get away with something he would not be able to do with Merlin in the room. Merlin needed to think of something close by, not suspicious, and with nothing to do with Gaius. "I'm going to go to the- tavern." No, NO! What was his mouth doing? Why would he say that? "Maybe have some mead on my- day off."

"Oh." Aggravaine said. Merlin could see his eyebrows twist upwards in slight surprise. "Enjoy yourself then."

"I. I will." Merlin started to leave, inwardly kicking himself.

"Oh, and Merlin?" Merlin turned back to face Aggravaine. "Perhaps you should catch up on your sleep. You look terrible."

"Yes. Of- Of course. Sire." Merlin stuttered and left. If Aggravaine had noticed, maybe he really was worse than he thought. After all, how many times does someone who'd probably rather see you dead tell you look ill? He needed a place to rest. Somewhere he could lie down without anyone noticing, not Arthur or Gaius or the knights.

Perhaps Morgana's old chambers. No one used them, no one ever even went inside those rooms. It had clean blankets on the bed, Arthur tried to act as though it were any other guest chamber. And Merlin could deal with the dust and cobwebs that resulted from never being cleaned if it meant a good nap. That's where he'd go then.

After the second flight of stairs, Merlin felt himself tiring. His muscles ached and he was fighting to keep his eyes open. But he was almost there. Just one. More. Step.

***

Gwaine was not having the best of days. Most days were not the best of days for Gwaine, but this number had reduced slightly since coming to Camelot. Today, however was not the best of days.

For one thing, he had went to the tavern in the morning, but according to the bartender he hadn't "paid" or something ridiculous like that. So he wasn't allowed any mead, beer, or other alcoholic substance in the building. He had taken so long arguing with the bartender over this that he completely forgot about Arthur's morning practice. So Percival had to come get him, and he's not exactly the talkative type. When they finally got to practice, Arthur was angry and made Gwaine run laps the entire time. The ENTIRE time. Arthur's morning practices were two hours long. Sure, he had gotten there about an hour late, but still, he deserved a break. Surely there was a tankard of mead somewhere in his chambers. Perhaps under the bed-

"Hey!" Gwaine shouted. He could see a collapsed figure at he bottom of the stairs. It looked like- but it couldn't be- "Merlin!" he called, and raced down the stairs to his unconscious friend's side. "Merlin, can you hear me? Wake up. Wake up!"

Merlin moaned softly, and Gwaine let out a sigh of relief. He held Merlin for a moment and then stood, hooking his arms under the boy's as to drag him back up the stairs.

"Hold on Merlin." Gwaine assured him, although he wasn't sure if he could hear him or not. "I'm going to get you to Gaius."

At this, Merlin moaned again, louder, and started to fight Gwaine. Semi-conscious and with a bleeding head wound, Merlin threw himself back and forth in the knight's grip, resisting as well as he could.

"Shh, shh." Gwaine tried to calm him, but Merlin would not stop his desperate moves to get away. "It's alright. I'm taking you to Gaius. You're okay."

At this, Merlin only fought harder. He must have been out of it, then. Perhaps he thought he was in some kind of danger, or didn't realise he was still in Camelot. Gwaine knew Merlin sometimes had nightmares, he had heard the boy talking in his sleep on various patrols and hunting trips. Maybe, in his wounded state, his dreams had become a reality.

"Up you get." Gwaine groaned at Merlin's weight. The boy was skinny, but lugging his fighting form up the stairs was still difficult. "Hey!" Gwaine cried, knowing that there should be guards close by. "Hey!" This time he heard clinking, and pushed forward with a sense of relief. A few moments later, Merlin was being lifted out of his arms and carried up the rest of the way by two buff looking men.

Gwaine paused for a moment to breathe and then ran to catch up with them. "Take him to Gaius's chambers." he directed, and then realised that these men probably had no idea who Gaius was, or where his chambers were. "The court physician." he explained. "That way."

The guards followed his pointed finger without remark. Gwaine could see they were holding Merlin quite firmly, but he couldn't really protest. With the way he was wriggling around in their hold, Gwaine knew that if the guards loosened they're grip they would drop him.

"It's alright." Gwaine soothed from the side. "Everything's going to be fine, just as soon as we get you to Gaius."

For some reason, this only made the boy fight harder.

***

"King Arthur!" The squire pushed open the door without bothering to knock. Gwen was looking at papers with Arthur, and one of his arms was wrapped around her waist. Their eyes snapped up at him, and the boy realised his mistakes. "M'sorry." he mumbled, embarrassed. "My lord. I'll come back."

"No, of course not." Arthur wasn't annoyed. He had grown far too used to being barged in on since Merlin had become his manservant. Far too used to it, now that he thought about it. "What is it?"

The squire swallowed, sweat pouring off of him both from running the distance of the castle and nerves. The king would not be happy about this news. "It's about Merlin, sire. Your manservant."

"Yes?" Arthur jumped up off of his chair, practically running over to the shaking boy. Gwen stood just behind him. "What is it?" Had Merlin's illness worsened? It had looked like just another cold, albeit a bad one. Nothing that some sleep and a day off couldn't cure. That's why Arthur had relieved him for the day. What had his manservant gotten himself into? "Is he okay?" Arthur asked, hating the fear that was so prominent in his voice.

"He- he fell." The squire informed him curtly. "Down a flight of stairs."

"WHAT?"Arthur screamed, and shoved the boy up against his wall, not caring that it wasn't his fault, or that he was being to rough. "What did you say?" he demanded.

"He fell, sire." the boy was crying, scared to death of Arthur in the way servants used to fear his father.

Arthur quickly released him.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, his voice rough. "I'm sorry. What's your name?" Arthur asked, feeling like he might just through up all over the sniveling boy.

"Ashton." the squire whispered. He rubbed at his shoulder, still sobbing despite his clear attempts to try and stop.

"I'm sorry, Ashton." Arthur tried to keep himself calm. "Could you tell me what happened to Merlin?"

"He fell down a-"

"I know." Arthur interrupted, and then mentally kicked himself. Ashton shrunk down lower, expecting to be beaten, or worse. "I know." Arthur said again, softer this time. "How is he?"

For a moment Ashton just stared up at him, and Arthur had to wonder if he had heard the question. Just as he was about to repeat himself, the squire looked up at him.

"You better go see Gaius." the boy said weakly. Arthur was out of the door in a heart beat.

"Hey." Gwen said kindly. "Ashton, isn't it?" he nodded, still petrified. She helped him into a chair, he was clearly in shock. "It's okay. He'll be alright."

Ashton just shook his head. "I saw him. He won't be alright."

Gwen frowned. "I meant Arthur." she explained.

"So did I."


	3. Chapter 3

"WELL?" Arthur shouted, smashing open the door to Gaius's chamber. He took a moment to breathe, (he had just run the length of half the castle) before clarifying his question. "How is he?"

Gaius was hunched over Merlin's form, but Arthur strode over and pushed him out of the way without a second thought. His only concern was for his hurt manservant, and so he missed the angry glare Gaius shot at him behind his back.

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked, brushing some of the hair out of Merlin's face. It was a daft question, he knew that. His dark haired friend was lying on the bed, a heavy bandage wrapped around his head and one arm in a sling. When he sat down, Arthur could feel more bandages through the blankets, and concluded that Merlin must have fractured or broken his ribs.

"He fell down the stairs." Gaius said, and Arthur turned to face him. Something was strange about the way Gaius spoke, and they both realised at the same time. "Sire." the old physician added, but that wasn't it.

"I know. What are his injuries?"

"Three broken ribs." Gwaine said from the corner, causing Arthur to jump. He hadn't seen the knight, who was leaning against a wall, shadows crossing his dark face. "We won't know if he has a concussion until he wakes up, and probably a broken arm. The swelling's too bad to tell right now."

"Mmm..." Merlin mumbled, his eyes still closed, and Arthur knelt down to listen. "No. No, Gaius, no. Trmph..."

His already muffled words were cut off when Gaius shoved a small glass phial into his mouth, forcing Merlin to swallow. The injured boy started to thrash, but the sedative started working before Arthur could hold him down.

"What was that?" the King of Camelot demanded. Gaius corked the now empty bottle calmly.

"A strong sleeping draft."

"Why?" Gwaine asked, finally coming away from the corner. "Surely it's a good sign that Merlin's coherent."

Gaius sighed. "I'm afraid not, Sir Gwaine." Said knight's eyebrows raised a fraction, but no one saw. "Merlin was simply experiencing- a symptom of mental injury. All we can do for him now is try and make sure he gets as much rest as he can. It will help him marginally."

Arthur nodded, trying to look certain. "How can we help him with this, Gaius?"

The old man pulled over a chair and sat down. "It will be difficult." he began. "We will most likely have to keep him drugged to sleep at all. When he does awaken more, he may appear to be normal, uninjured, but we must keep in mind that he is still wounded. Merlin may be paranoid, or delusional. It is vital for us to remember: he is not well. It may be a while, Sire."

"I understand." Arthur stayed quiet for a moment before touching Merlin's forehead. "He's burning up!" he shouted.

"I know." Gaius patted him on the shoulder. "I was cooling him down when you came in. But it's strange, the fever does not seem to be resulting of his injuries."

"Oh, yes." The royal felt a little stupid at not mentioning it earlier. "Merlin showed up to work with a cough and a fever. I told him to go rest. He must have fallen on his way back to bed." Arthur noticed Gwaine's frown, but said nothing.

"I'll give him something to help fight the cold, then." Gaius started to bustle around his space. "Though it doesn't sound much worse than a common cold."

"No, I don't think so." Arthur said, taking the cool cloth from Gaius and patting it on his manservant's head. "I don't think so."

Arthur left shortly after that to take out his anger on the practice dummy in the training field. He sat through a court meeting on why taxes should be raised, all the while thinking of his injured manservant. Gwen didn't say anything about him skipping lunch, but made him attend dinner, although he mostly pushed the food on his plate around.

"Oh, come on then." Gwen said, after watching her husband pile his beans onto his meat and then scraping the beans off only to push the meat onto his beans for the third time.

"What?" Arthur pulled himself out of his thoughts too late, and couldn't tell what his wife had said.

"Put down your fork." Gwen ordered kindly. She pushed back her chair and sat up. "We're going to visit Merlin."

Arthur leaped up and practically ran the entire distance, pausing only when Guinevere called to him to slow. She tried to run too, but the shoes meant for the female royals was simply not accommodating for jogging through crowded corridors. In a longer time than Arthur would have liked, they were in sight of the old wooden door that was the entrance to the physician's chambers, hand in hand.

"Ah, Guinevere." Gaius said, straightening up. Percival and Leon were sitting by Merlin, talking to him soothingly. "Back so soon?"

Arthur looked over at his wife, question in his eyes. "I was here helping Gaius earlier." she explained. "Just keeping Merlin cool and such."

"How is he?" Arthur asked, turning to Gaius and dismissing his conversation with Gwen.

"Better." Gaius nodded. "I've brought his fever down quite a bit. I'm still worried about his head injury though. He awoke once and was completely delirious. Just to warn you, sire."

"Could we, uh." Arthur cleared his throat. "Could we have a moment?" he asked. Percival and Elyan left, closely followed by Gwen. Gaius however, showed no sign of movement. "Please." he added.

"I don't know, sire." Gaius sighed, twisting his hands. "I don't want to be gone if something happens."

"Nothing will happen." Arthur assured him. "And you won't go to far."

Gaius looked as if he was about to speak, but then shook his head and left Merlin and Arthur alone.

"Hey there." the king said softly. He sat down in the chair Percival had been occupying only moments ago and took Merlin's hand in his own. "Get better. Get better, please, Merlin." Then, just in case the idiot was semi conscious, he added, "So you can wash my socks. I'm running out and you've only been hurt since morning." Arthur tried to laugh, but it sounded suspiciously like he was about to start sobbing.

"Arth- ur." Merlin breathed slowly. "Arthur."

"Yes!" Arthur jumped up and his chair fell backwards. "Yes, yes, it's me, Merlin. It's me."

"Arthur." the boy said again, clearer this time, but still so soft that said king had to kneel down next to him to hear. "Get me- get me out. Please. Please."

Arthur pulled away at this strange turn. Merlin sounded truly hurt, like someone was stabbing a knife into him and turning it slowly. He realised there were tears pouring down his manservant's face. Tears. Merlin was practically sobbing.

"Merlin, I don't- I don't understand." Arthur tried to soothe him. "Why would you want to leave? You're safe here. We're in Camelot. You fell down some stairs. Gaius is treating you for a concussion." he tried to make Merlin understand.

"No. No!" his eyes flashed open, the tears making them reflect off the dim candle light. "Please, Arthur." he begged, and grabbed Arthur's arm so tightly it hurt. "Take me away from here. Far."

"Why?" he asked, frowning.

"It's Gaius." Merlin whispered. "I don't think Gaius is. He isn't." Merlin stuttered, finding it difficult to breathe through the tears. "Gaius isn't what-"

"Sire!" The physician shouted, bursting through the doors. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine." Arthur waved him off, trying to conceal Merlin's flailing form. "Leave us."

Gaius saw through the facade. "I really don't think that would be wise, sire. Merlin needs rest, not excitement. I thought I made that clear this morning."

"Get away!"

The old man sighed. "Now look, sire. I warned you he would be delusional." He uncorked a small bottle on the table and slowly approached Merlin. "It's okay, my boy. I am trying to make you well again."

"No. No."

"Arthur, will you hold him still for me?" Gaius asked. The monarch just looked at him, unsure of what to do. "Very well." Gaius moved around Arthur, shoved Merlin's weakly struggling form back against the bed, and tipped the bottle into the boy's mouth, who had no choice but to swallow. "See what you've made me do?" the old physician said to the king, walking away to set the phial with a group of empty ones that needed washing.

Merlin lay back, his eyelids fluttering slightly.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked, hating how small his voice sounded.

Before Arthur could move away, the pale boy had leapt up, looping his arms around the king's neck and pulling him down. Gaius was standing over them in a heartbeat, trying to pull the sick boy away.

"Don't trust him, Arthur." Merlin murmured into his ear. "Just- don't."

Arthur had no doubt who "he" was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur worries about Merlin, Gwaine worries about Merlin, Merlin worries about Merlin.

Arthur pushed the papers away and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. It was in the early stages, but as the leader of a great nation, he knew what a headache felt like.

"Oh god, Merlin." Arthur said, speaking to his absent manservant. "What am I going to do with you?"

Give me the day off, that annoying Merlin sounding voice in the back of his mind nagged.

"Shut up, Merlin." Great. Now he was talking to himself.

To be honest, Arthur did miss the ceaseless prattle of his manservant. Because Merlin really never did shut up. He would mumble stories to himself while he cleaned, and from the bits Arthur heard, they were almost all fables about a good wizard who was on a mission to rescue some wayward noble. Arthur guessed that they were tales that his mother had told him, because no nursery tale contained a good wizard since magic had been outlawed, at least a year before Merlin's birth.

Sometimes when he was in a bad mood, Arthur would tell Merlin to shut up, really meaning it because he had another one of those god awful headaches. And the boy was smart enough to know he should heed his master's words, so he would stop the mumbling for several minutes before starting to hum.

Yes, Arthur was missing the lack of silence.

Don't trust him. Those were the words Merlin had chosen to use his last bit of strength to hiss in Arthur's ear before flopping back on the bed, unconscious. Don't trust him.

At first, Arthur had thought Merlin meant Gaius. He had been sure of it. The injured boy had crying, begging Arthur to take him away, that Gaius wasn't something. What did he think was wrong with Gaius? The answer hit Arthur like a bag of bricks.

Merlin thought he was going to die.

It was clear now that he realised it. When the stomach flu had spread like wildfire last November, Arthur had climbed out of bed to go find his useless servant who hadn't even bothered to show up, and instead found him arguing with Gaius in the physician's chambers, yelling that Gaius should rest and let Merlin cure everyone. He'd said that if Gaius caught the sickness he wouldn't be strong enough to fight it off.

Merlin believed that if he died, the old physician would lose the will to live and fall into depression. But if he left Camelot and never returned, Gaius would know why, and they would have the same problem. And why would that mean that Arthur shouldn't trust Gaius?

The physician had said it himself: Merlin had hit his head and was delusional. There was nothing wrong, no danger and no one untrustworthy, he was imagining it. Just imagining it.

But the way the boy had looked up at him, there was utter fear in his eyes. And when Merlin was begging Arthur to take him far away, he meant it. Merlin truly thought there was some form of danger in Camelot, and wanted Arthur to take him away.

Trust Merlin to try and save his own skin before anyone else's.

A knock on the door drew Arthur out of his thoughts.

"Come in." he called. The door opened, and the familiar form entered. "Ah, Uncle." Arthur greeted. He stood up to offer his own chair, but the darkly dressed man waved him off, choosing to stand, so Arthur rose as well.

"Arthur." Agravaine nodded to him. "I take it you've heard the news of your servant." The king looked down at his papers, answer written all over his face. "I'm truly sorry."

"Thank you." Arthur tried to hide the emotion that was just trembling to get out. "I take it you didn't just come speak about my injured manservant, Agravaine?"

"Unfortunately, no." The darkly dressed man was all business. "If you remember, Morgana is cropping up more and more followers."

"Mercenaries." he waved his hand. "They are just paid labor."

"I'm not so sure, my lord." Agravaine paused for a moment to choose his words carefully. "We've been receiving more reports. She's becoming less cautious, sending her men out deeper into Camelot, and they do seem ready to die for her."

"What?" Arthur asked, standing up. "They're what?"

"Mercenaries are soldiers for hire." Agravaine agreed. "But they will usually do whatever is necessary to save their own skin at the end of the battle. But these men are fighting to the death. A patrol on the outskirts of the kingdom captured a raid, and they made no plead."

"No- what?" Arthur asked, unbelieving of what he was saying. "Why are they so loyal? Is Morgana using some sort of magical instrument." he tried to ignore the pain in his chest that came with her name.

"I'm afraid I don't know." Agravaine shrugged. "I will take my leave now. I am truly sorry about your manservant, Arthur."

"Thank you." he took his uncle's hand, shaking it firmly. Leave it to Merlin to get injured on his day off."

"Sounds like he would have injured himself anyway." Agravaine joked, trying to lighten the mood. He started to open up the door, leaving Arthur to think about his words.

"Wait!" the young king shouted, running after his uncle. "What did you say?"

"Morgana is sending her men deeper into-"

"No, no, after that. About Merlin. Just before you left."

"Ah, yes." Agravaine nodded, looking at Arthur strangely. "That he would have probably injured himself anyway. I've heard that he spends a lot of time in the tavern."

Arthur glared. "Merlin was going home to get some rest. What makes you think he was going to the tavern?"

"He- he said so himself." Agravaine looked slightly scared, causing Arthur to wonder exactly what expression his face was making. "I saw him outside out your chambers this morning. The boy said you had given him the day off, and that he was going to the tavern for a drink."

"Fie!" Arthur shouted, stomping his foot like he was a child. A passing servant gave him a strange look and departed. "I'm sorry, Uncle." he nodded to the darker dressed man. "Forgive me. But I have just found out that my manservant injured himself on his way to the tavern when I told him specifically to get some REST!" His voice grew increasing louder, until he was shouting.

Arthur threw open the door and ran down the hallway, not caring how un-kingly he must have looked. He could feel the eyes of his uncle follow him, and for some reason a shiver ran down Arthur's spine.

***

Gwaine smashed the wooden training sword into the post again and again, the clanging noise that resulted soothing him deeper into his trance. Somewhere deep within him, Gwaine knew that the other knights were all staring, but he couldn't bring himself to bother. His elbows were sticking straight out, something Arthur constantly berated him for in practice, but the normally fun knight didn't have the strength to try to fix his own form. He was close to collapsing in a puddle of his own sweat and tears, and he knew it.

"Gwaine!" Arthur shouted, running over to him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Gwaine pulled himself out his state and looked down, realising his practice sword was in pieces around him, and that the post was in no better state.

"Training." the knight spat out. His voice sounded hoarse and rough in his own ears.

"I can bloody well see that." Arthur rolled his eyes. "I think that's enough sword work today."

Gwaine was not ready to stop. "I'll work with the squires for a bit." he proposed.

"You'll do no such thing." The tone was commanding, and Arthur seemed to notice, sighing before continuing again in a softer voice. "I don't want you to break the trainees. Gaius is busy enough as it is."

"I'm aware." Gwaine said curtly. "I won't be too hard on them. I promise."

"Yes, and that hilt in your hand is a testament to it." the knight glanced down at the shaft of wood in his hand that had previously resembled a sword. "You've been out here long enough." Arthur continued. "Take a break."

"Not yet."

"Gwaine, you've been done here pounding away at that post since dawn."

"Yes," Gwaine answered, wondering what he was getting at.

"It's almost noon."

Gwaine threw his head up to look at the sky, and saw that indeed, the sun was directly above them. It had seemed like such a short time too. Before Arthur had spoken, Gwaine would have guessed less than an hour. How could he lose track of time like that?

Arthur sighed. "Come in, Gwaine. Have lunch with me."

"No, thank you. Sire." He added the bit at the end, just to show Arthur how upset he was. It was never "sire" with the king. Arthur took a step back as if Gwaine had hit him.

"Have I done something to anger you, Sir Knight?" Arthur replied in the same manner.

"No, no." Gwaine regretted his words. He moved to lean on his sword, forgetting it was broken, and almost crashed to the ground before Arthur pulled him back up. "I'm sorry." he apologised. "I'm not angry with you. I'm just worried about Merlin."

Arthur pursed his lips. "So am I. Though marginally less than I was yesterday."

"What do you mean? Is he better?" Gwaine pounced on his words, and Arthur felt bad for giving him false hope.

"No, I don't know." Arthur rubbed his forehead. Yes, definitely a headache. "I just- Agravaine just told me that he saw Merlin before the injury. I had given Merlin the day off, because he looked positively ill, and now I've discovered that Merlin was on his way to the tavern instead of bed."

"What?" Gwaine asked, looking at Arthur like he was crazy. "Merlin hates drinking. I've only convinced him to come to the tavern twice. And he didn't even finish the mug both times."

"You're kidding." the king just shook his head. "I think we're talking about a different Merlin. Do you know how many times I've gone off looking for him to find out he went to the tavern?"

"Not the Rising Sun, mate." Gwaine clapped him on the back and started to walk away, ignoring the splintered pieces of wood on the ground around him. Arthur turned to follow. "I've spent days straight in there, and I've never seen Merlin once."

He thought the days straight thing might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it still bothered Arthur that Gwaine wouldn't have ever seen Merlin. Well, he was probably pretty drunk most of the time, but he would remember seeing that dopey-eared idiot, wouldn't he?

Wouldn't he?

***

Merlin had a headache. It was pounding in his ears, making thoughts, well, unthinkable. He could feel his teeth rattling on the inside of his mouth. A cold hand pressed itself against Merlin's forehead, and he moaned, not in control of his own mouth. The hand withdrew, causing him to moan again, and a harsh voice answered.

"Awaken."

Although everything in him was screaming no, Merlin forced his eyes open, and then immediately closed them again.

"Too late now." the stiff voice coaxed. "I know you're awake, Merlin."

Merlin sighed and opened his eyes. Gaius stood over him, looking so normal in his deep tan robes, sitting on the edge of the bed in the same manner he did with all of his patients. But there was something different, something that Merlin had known was wrong for over a week, and yet refused to say anything.

He now wished he had.

Because this? This wasn't even the worst trouble the young warlock had gotten himself into. But it most certainly was the stupidest.

This entire catastrophe could have been avoided with a few words. Arthur, can I sleep in some of the guest chambers for a bit? Gaius and I had a falling out.

The end. Merlin could have went and slept in a real bed, and he wouldn't have to wander around the castle corridors all night sleeping uncomfortably, slumped against cold stone walls, hoping someone wouldn't find him and ask him what in the name of Camelot was he doing. Maybe it wouldn't put off his Gaius problem forever (they did live together), but at least it would give him a chance to find out what was wrong with the once kind old man.

And that was the problem, wasn't it? Merlin had no idea what was wrong. And if he didn't know what was wrong, he couldn't fix it.

"Ah, Merlin." Gaius smiled at him as he wiped the crust that formed at the edge of his eyes off. "How are you feeling? My boy." he added after a moment's hesitation.

"You don't have to pretend." Merlin was tired, not feeling well, and he didn't want to put up with nonsense. "I know- I know something's wrong."

"Yes," the old physician sighed, but Merlin thought he might have seen a flicker of fear in Gaius's eyes. "But that's nothing to concern yourself with."

"I'm concerned." Merlin tried to sit up, and pain shot through his arm. "What's happened? I assume it's some sort of body swap? He's in yours, some strange bandit stuck wondering around the woods?"

"Wrong."

"So not a bandit then?" he was tired, and in no mood to play games. "An enemy of Camelot."

"Correct, in ways you might not expect."

"Is this a guessing game now?" Merlin tilted his head back to stretch out his neck. "I'll just keep guessing until I get it right?"

"No." Gaius stood up quickly, stepping away from his injured ward. "Though I will tell you something: stay out of my way."

"Why?" he complained. "It's so much more fun when I fight."

"That may be true." the physician raised one eyebrow, and Merlin turned his head away to hide the hurt. "Any more whispers to your dear prince, any hints left around, and you may just suffer a mental relapse. I, being the kindly old physician I am, will take care of you, give you the medicine you need to be well again. But my vision is getting a little rough around the edges in my old age, wouldn't it be terrible if I administered a poison by accident?"

"Terrible," Merlin agreed, and nodded his head stiffly. "Yes, that'd- I mean-"

Gaius ran his hand through Merlin's hair, a gesture Gaius always did when Merlin was sick or had just waken from a nightmare, and for a moment Merlin pictured himself melting into the bed, vanishing. 

"Terrible," Gaius said, and pulled his hand away. 

Merlin felt suddenly cold.


End file.
